Alcohol Addiction

Alcohol addiction is a national calamity which drains more time, money, emotions, creativity, and life from its captives than calculable. Alcohol addiction takes and never gives. Alcohol abuse destroys the body and spirit of the user. If alcohol dependence were a communicable disease it would be called a pandemic. But because it becomes a disease built over time by deliberate choice, it is treated as a “problem.” Nevertheless, alcohol abuse is a worldwide tragedy.

For many it will take a professional alcohol treatment center for complex detoxification and the rebuilding of a life shattered by alcoholism’s effects. It also may include support from family, community, and professionally designed support groups to help a person maintain sobriety once it begins to be achieved.

There is hope.Action Recovery Group of Ogden offers a life of freedom from alcoholism. Call us at 801-475-HOPE and immediately contact a local chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous for an AA support group that help you begin to heal spiritually, emotionally, and offer the extra support you need.

National Alcohol Addiction and Use Facts

There are various terms being used—Alcohol Addiction, Alcohol Dependency, Alcohol Use Disorder, Alcohol Abuse, Alcohol Misuse, and other terms seek to identify the body’s dependence on alcohol.

What it all comes down to is the body demanding, craving and creating an inability to stop drinking without professional help rehab type treatments offer.

Here are some facts about the curse of alcohol abuse that are “sobering” in scope. All are estimates to the nearest rounded number:

According to a 2012 study by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism:

88% of adults 18 years of age or older have used alcohol, 71% in the last year

25% reported binge drinking in the last month

17 million Americans suffered from an alcohol use disorder (AUD)

Around 1.4 million Americans received treatment at a rehab type of facility in 2012

Youth ages 12 to 17 had an estimated 855,000 with an AUD problem and 76,000 receiving treatment

Roughly 88,000 people die from alcohol related causes each year

Nearly 6% of deaths worldwide can be attributed to alcohol intake

Over 200 disease and injury related conditions result from alcohol abuse

Economically alcoholism costs over 200 billion dollars each year in the United States

Approximately 6 million Americans ages 12-20 were binge drinkers in 2012

More than 10% of American children live with a parent suffering from alcohol misuse

The number of people suffering with alcohol related misuse and actual alcoholism disease far outnumbers those who abuse any other substance. The people suffering with treatable alcoholism are all around us. They are friends and family. Yet under 10% of those who could be classed as alcohol dependents actually seeking help from a professional treatment center.

The first step in dealing with any problem is to identify it. A person begins that path by asking a simple question:

“Am I an alcoholic?”

Alcohol Dependency

Alcoholism is severe drinking with chronic ongoing body cravings causing internal damage to organs and significant mental impairment. It is also diagnosed as Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD).

From the Mayo Clinic this information provides a good scope of the personal alcohol dependency problem:

“Alcoholism is a chronic and often progressive disease that includes problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol, continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems, having to drink more to get the same effect (physical dependence), or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. If you have alcoholism, you can’t consistently predict how much you’ll drink, how long you’ll drink, or what consequences will occur from your drinking.

“It’s possible to have a problem with alcohol, even when it has not progressed to the point of alcoholism. Problem drinking means you drink too much at times, causing repeated problems in your life, although you’re not completely dependent on alcohol.

“Binge drinking — a pattern of drinking where a male consumes five or more drinks in a row, or a female downs at least four drinks in a row — can lead to the same health risks and social problems associated with alcoholism. The more you drink, the greater the risks. Binge drinking, which often occurs with teenagers and young adults, may lead to faster development of alcoholism.”

Dependency upon alcohol creates a build up for tolerance over time. The body will demand more alcohol for the same effect by either more consumption or moving to higher alcohol content beverages. The alcohol related abuse is really caused by cravings the addiction to alcohol creates. The body signals its need for more alcohol through withdrawal symptoms. This prompts increased alcohol intake in order to ward them off.

Some withdrawal symptoms include those associated with the infamous “hangover” and:

Severe headaches and migraines

Increased anxiety

Fatigue

Nausea and vomiting

Sweating and shaking

Insomnia

In more severe cases withdrawal may double-down in symptoms including:

Seizures and stroke

Higher than normal blood pressure

Disorientation, confusion, hallucinations

Delirium Tremens (the DT’s)

Cardiac and cardiovascular disease

How Do I Get Help?

Support from other people who have an understanding, and also care about you and the problem you suffer with, is available. It can begin as easily as checking this link to Alcoholics Anonymous to find a local community support group or by giving them a call. It may also require a rehab program that helps with detoxification and withdrawal symptoms which can be quite severe and overwhelming when attempted without professional intervention.

The process involves (1) Admitting the problem (2) Intervention to help you beat alcoholism (3) Detoxification and withdrawal symptom management, (4) Treatment plans individualized for long term success.

Professional Treatment

Professional treatment can help you quit drinking in a number of ways. Most important is that both in-patient and out-patient treatment can offer the supportive environment and concrete steps in medically assisted recovery which you may need. Action Recovery Group of Ogden can help you through all these steps in the process of winning your battle with alcohol dependency and misuse.You can find compassionate and affordable out-patient medical treatment for alcohol related disease and disorder.A visit to our website may help you feel comfortable with this next step.

How does Treatment Help Someone Quit Drinking?

Treatment for alcohol addiction and misuse can help a person stop drinking. Inpatient treatment offers the person served for alcoholism a supportive and controlled level of comfort and stability. The process of detoxification takes time and so that time is put to good use to develop new levels of trust, belief, and skills to cope with the changes being made in the patient’s life.

Controlling the influence of alcohol gives a person a chance to experience emotions that may have been suppressed for some time because of alcohol abuse. Becoming sober, the body will be adjusting to life without an alcohol poisoned environment. All this requires that the person undergoing treatment have capable counseling and therapy as he or she beings to manage a new life of sobriety. A licensed therapist will help the person through these stages of healing the body and the emotions.

The support structure offered in a professional treatment center helps the patient keep his or her mind off of alcohol and reframe the relationship with “booze.” Rehabs like Action Recovery Group of Ogden, Utah offer full addiction healing programs and will include elements of family support so that loved ones may learn a variety of ways to help support the patient in the long term recovery that alcoholism entails.

Treatments with Individualized Approaches

Individualized treatment is the key to success with alcohol addiction and dependency. At Action Recovery Group, each person is special and given the personalized diagnosis and assessments that licensed practitioners offer. There is no “one-size-fits-all” or generic approach when it comes to the life of a person, and with chemical and alcohol use disorders this is especially true. A truly personal atmosphere of care is provided at the Action Recovery Group treatment center.

From medically supervised detoxification, fitness and nutrition, along with personal therapy and counseling, additional structures built in to the individualized program provide the recovering patient a plan for success to last a lifetime.

The Action Recovery Group will help you or a loved one win the battle over alcohol dependency and disease. It takes recognizing the problem and wanting help. A simple call can start the process. Affordability is always an issue and we are here to address that with you. With proven strategies to help any person achieve the freedom from alcoholism and the ravages to life it brings, Action Recovery Group is offering hope. Call us today at (801) 475-HOPE!